Hey guys, I'm a newer member of the chicken keeping club and I just wanted to write a post about the importance of finding "natural" solutions for your chickens' ailments whenever possible.
One recurring theme that I've seen on the forums is the frequent recommendation to use antibiotics and other meds for nearly every problem/concern. I am by no means an "expert" on chickens, but I will say that I do have experience with pharmaceuticals and human medical conditions - my professional training is in nutrition (I'm a Registered Dietitian) and what I do is essentially "heal" people with food. Many of my human clients have been on countless meds in the past, spending thousands of dollars on various "treatments" and doctor visits that produced little to no relief in symptoms - after working with me for a few weeks, clients often feel some, or even complete relief, which is something that none of the other medical professionals could accomplish. I am a firm believer that food is the ultimate "preventor" of chronic illness as well as the ultimate "cure", if you will.
Anyway, back to chickens.
The reason I was inspired to write this post is because I had been looking for possible reasons and solutions for my silkie's breathing difficulty, which started a few days ago. I currently have 5 chicks, all 4 weeks old, and only 1 of them was having issues. All the chicks are residing in one of our spare bedrooms for the time being (inside a "brooder" manufactured from a bunch of cardboard boxes poked full of holes) - the brooder has been kept very clean (I used washed, non-dusty sand for the bedding medium and scoop it 2-3x/day), they have excellent ventilation, they have not been outside (not exposed to bugs, etc.), and they always have fresh food and water.
I noticed my silkie, Delilah, had some labored breathing (though she was still able to breath through her nose) and some mild swelling in her sinus area, but no other symptoms - poo was fine, eating and drinking was fine, crop appeared fine, active, chipper, social, etc. I started providing the chicks with natural apple cider vinegar in their water and some garlic added to their feed to help boost immunity. I try to avoid antibiotics and other medications whenever possible because I know that in humans, there are side effects to nearly all meds (antibiotics, for instance, disrupt the GI tract - I know of one client whose antibiotic use prompted a long list of food sensitivities).
Today I decided to try swabbing a simple saline solution on Delilah's nasal area to see if that would help. Lo and behold within 10 minutes (after a few sneezes) she appeared to be fine - breathing went back to "normal" and I suspect that the swelling will be much improved within the next day or so. My theory is that she probably got some saw dust or something up her nose, which caused the irritation (I've been sanding down furniture to prep them for painting and there was probably some saw dust on my clothing when I went to pick her up). It's funny how something so simple could be the solution. I know that going the "natural", non-medicated approach may not work for everyone, but if you catch a problem early enough, it can be a viable option (of course, the best approach is to do what you can to prevent the problem in the first place).
Cheers,
Amanda (a.k.a. Mandynic)
One recurring theme that I've seen on the forums is the frequent recommendation to use antibiotics and other meds for nearly every problem/concern. I am by no means an "expert" on chickens, but I will say that I do have experience with pharmaceuticals and human medical conditions - my professional training is in nutrition (I'm a Registered Dietitian) and what I do is essentially "heal" people with food. Many of my human clients have been on countless meds in the past, spending thousands of dollars on various "treatments" and doctor visits that produced little to no relief in symptoms - after working with me for a few weeks, clients often feel some, or even complete relief, which is something that none of the other medical professionals could accomplish. I am a firm believer that food is the ultimate "preventor" of chronic illness as well as the ultimate "cure", if you will.
Anyway, back to chickens.
The reason I was inspired to write this post is because I had been looking for possible reasons and solutions for my silkie's breathing difficulty, which started a few days ago. I currently have 5 chicks, all 4 weeks old, and only 1 of them was having issues. All the chicks are residing in one of our spare bedrooms for the time being (inside a "brooder" manufactured from a bunch of cardboard boxes poked full of holes) - the brooder has been kept very clean (I used washed, non-dusty sand for the bedding medium and scoop it 2-3x/day), they have excellent ventilation, they have not been outside (not exposed to bugs, etc.), and they always have fresh food and water.
I noticed my silkie, Delilah, had some labored breathing (though she was still able to breath through her nose) and some mild swelling in her sinus area, but no other symptoms - poo was fine, eating and drinking was fine, crop appeared fine, active, chipper, social, etc. I started providing the chicks with natural apple cider vinegar in their water and some garlic added to their feed to help boost immunity. I try to avoid antibiotics and other medications whenever possible because I know that in humans, there are side effects to nearly all meds (antibiotics, for instance, disrupt the GI tract - I know of one client whose antibiotic use prompted a long list of food sensitivities).
Today I decided to try swabbing a simple saline solution on Delilah's nasal area to see if that would help. Lo and behold within 10 minutes (after a few sneezes) she appeared to be fine - breathing went back to "normal" and I suspect that the swelling will be much improved within the next day or so. My theory is that she probably got some saw dust or something up her nose, which caused the irritation (I've been sanding down furniture to prep them for painting and there was probably some saw dust on my clothing when I went to pick her up). It's funny how something so simple could be the solution. I know that going the "natural", non-medicated approach may not work for everyone, but if you catch a problem early enough, it can be a viable option (of course, the best approach is to do what you can to prevent the problem in the first place).
Cheers,
Amanda (a.k.a. Mandynic)
